Rafael Nadal: Why Rafa Needs Aussie Success to Cement Legacy

With 10 career Grand Slam victories, Rafael Nadal is already considered by most to be among the best male tennis players in recent memory. For him to truly cement his legacy, however, he must come up big in the Australian Open.

For a few years Nadal was chasing Roger Federer to become the world's No. 1 player. He eventually surpassed Federer, but it wasn't long before Novak Djokovic occupied the top spot. That is currently the case as Nadal sits at No. 2.

There is certainly no shame in being No. 2, as men's tennis may have a deeper talent pool now than it ever has. Because of that, though, there is certainly some risk that Nadal could lose his perch near the top if his game suffers any sort of drop off.

At the age of 25 it would seem that Nadal has plenty of time left as an elite player, but few players are more injury prone. He pretty much enters every big tournament with a new ailment, and the Aussie Open is no different as he is currently dealing with a tendon issue in his right knee.

With that said, Rafa still managed to win the French Open last season, which he has done six out of the past seven years. Because of that, it is already clear that Nadal is one of the best clay-court players of all time. His success on other surfaces, however, lacks in comparison.

Nadal has won Wimbledon twice, the US Open once and the Australian Open once. That is obviously nothing to be ashamed of, but if you were to ignore his French Open success, four Grand Slams most definitely wouldn't rank him among the best ever.

I realize that his French Open wins have to be taken into consideration, and they certainly should be, but if he doesn't win any further Grand Slams aside from the French, he might be viewed by some as a bit of a one-trick pony.

Fair or not, Nadal has had most of his success on a single surface, so it would be tough to rank him ahead of the likes of Federer, Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi. Nadal has only won two hard-court Grand Slams in his entire career, and he will be hard pressed to win another with Federer still in the fold and Djokovic clearly not going away any time soon.

If Nadal doesn't win the 2012 Aussie Open or at least make a run to the finals, it might be time to wonder whether he will ever be able to win another Grand Slam aside from the French Open. There is no doubt that Nadal is one of the best players of his era, but unless he can have some success outside of France, his legacy could be viewed as incomplete.